Rio carnival to offer towering tribute to Lula, ‘the greatest Brazilian of all time’ | Brazil

He is a giant of Brazilian politics and soon he will become a giant of Brazilian carnival too: a 22-metre metal figurine, to be precise.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who rose from rural poverty to become his country’s first working class president, is to receive an unprecedented tribute at the opening night of Rio’s annual carnival procession on Sunday.

The samba school behind the homage – Acadêmicos de Niterói – has built its 2026 parade around President Lula’s extraordinary eight-decade life: from his deprived childhood in Brazil’s arid north-east, to his struggles as a boot polisher and factory worker in industrial São Paulo, to his three presidential terms in the capital, Brasília.

“The greatest Brazilian of all times … deserves to be celebrated on Brazil’s greatest stage,” said Fabiano Leitão, a leftwing trumpeter who is one of about 3,000 performers set to take part in the school’s parade.

During the procession, samba dancers wearing mortarboards and clutching university diplomas will represent Lula’s efforts to democratize higher education. Real-life victims of Brazil’s military dictatorship and their descendants will symbolize Lula’s defense of democracy itself during Jair Bolsonaro’s 2022 rightwing coup attempt. The towering effigy of Lula, taller than the Great Sphinx of Giza, will follow thousands of sambistas through Rio’s packed Sambadrome.

“His life has such an incredible plot … a guy from a poor background, who went hungry, makes it to the presidency without going to university and does everything he has done for Brazil and the Brazilians,” said Tiago Martins, the school’s creative director, celebrating Lula’s crusades against food insecurity and extreme poverty. “How could we not tell the story of a man like this?”

The parade will be the first time a serving Brazilian president has been honored during Rio’s carnival processions, although posthumous tributes have been paid to the late leaders Getúlio Vargas in 1956 and Juscelino Kubitschek in 1981. That fact has led to grumbling from rightwing critics that the procession constitutes an illegal act of electioneering being partly bankrolled with taxpayers’ money.

Martins insisted Niterói’s extravaganza was a celebration of an influential historical figure, not a piece of political propaganda designed to boost Lula’s support. “This isn’t a campaign. We don’t have a slogan,” he said.

But the spectacle comes at a critical moment for Brazilian politics and for Lula’s 44-year political career.

In October South America’s largest democracy will hold its presidential elections and Lula plans to seek an unprecedented fourth term in what will be his seventh presidential campaign since he first sought the top job in 1989. If the Worker’s party (PT) veteran wins, he will be 85 by the time he steps down at the end of 2030. Lula is already one of the world’s oldest democratically elected leaders. Last week Lula predicted the election would be a close-fought “war”, seemingly between him and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who has vowed to run in the place of his incarcerated father.

Lula’s age has left some fretting that he risks becoming a Brazilian answer to Joe Biden, who abandoned his 2024 re-election campaign after a toe-curling debate with Donald Trump.

But those who have spent time with the octogenarian politician insist he is fighting fit.

“Did you see that recent picture of him on the beach in his speedos?” asked Martins as he toured the warehouse where his samba school is preparing its floats.

“This guy’s got vigor. He’s in better shape than a lot of youngsters … He’s 80. That’s the sort of age at which you might say someone’s at the end of their career but he’s showing he’s full of beans,” added Martins, who met Lula at the presidential residence recently to show him his carnival plans.

Martins was unsure whether Brazil’s gym-going president knew how to dance samba – but the carnival master hoped he would put in an appearance on Sunday so crowds had the chance to find out.

Lula’s friend and biographer, Fernando Morais, confirmed Lula would take part in the parade and said the pair would appear together – wearing white trousers and shoes – on a float packed with the president’s chums.

Speaking after Lula announced his candidacy last October, Morais rejected comparisons with Biden. “He’s always joking that he’s going to make it to 130. He was super excited when that conversation between Xi Jinping and Putin leaked on a hot mic and … [Xi said people might] start living until 150,” Morais joked.

For all Lula’s vitality, Morais thought he could have done more to nurture a successor. The 79-year-old writer recalled witnessing a conversation between Lula and Hugo Chávez, in which the Brazilian told his Venezuelan counterpart: “You need to think about your succession. We’re all mortal.”

“[Lula] ended up not doing that himself. He gave that advice but in his own political life he didn’t do it, he didn’t encourage the emergence [of an heir],” said Morais, although he cited the finance minister, Fernando Haddad, 63, and general secretariat minister, Guilherme Boulos, 43, as potential heirs.

Boulos will also reportedly join Sunday’s procession, along with at least five other Lula ministers, and the first lady, Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja.

At a rain-soaked dress rehearsal last Friday, Janja, who is 59, could be seen showing off her footwork before hundreds of euphoric Lula supporters waving flags and making “L’”signs with their hands.

But does her 80-year-old husband know how to perform the notoriously tricky Brazilian jig?

“Oh yes, much better than I do. I’m going to have to pretend – but he knows,” Morais insisted as he prepared to fly to Rio for Lula’s party. “I’ve seen him do it … He won’t need to trick anyone … He’s in tip-top shape.”